Not long ago I visited a church and spoke with an older woman who had been teaching a weekly Bible study, and during our conversation, I shared that I was a Pastor, and also informed her about Priscilla and Aquila, a husband and wife Ministry team in the book of Acts, and how they had a church in their home, Acts 16:5. I also shared that Priscilla and her husband taught the Apostle Apollos, “the Way of God more accurately” after hearing him speak, Acts 18:26. Not only was she surprised to hear that I was a Pastor, but also that Priscilla and Aquila had a church in their home, as she did not have any knowledge of them in the scriptures. Toward the end of our conversation, she expressed how she was used to having a “man” as a Pastor, and said she actually preferred it that way. Why would that be? Because for far too long she and countless others all around the world have been taught by tradition, that only males can hold the position of a Pastor, but that is not what the Bible teaches.
For generations, there has been a widely held misconception among many that males are to be the heads of local churches. As I began to conduct my own exegesis regarding this Myth, I have found that there is not one verse in the Bible that says males are to the heads of the church.
1 Timothy 1:3, reads, “Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.” NIV. Other translations such as the KJV, and the NASB95 use the word “man” and as I looked up the Greek, I found the word “man” is: Tis “a certain one,” “Someone,” “Anyone.”
In Ephesians chapter 4, we see that Jesus Christ gave Gifts to His Church, and as you study the Word of God, you will find that in Ephesians chapter one, the “Church” is the “Body of Christ,” and we know that within the body of Christ there are Both males AND females. In fact the word for “Man” in Genesis 5:2, is the Hebrew word: Adam, which means human being, mankind, which is why God said in Genesis 1:26-28, 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the ak]”>]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, (Them Who? Adam Male and Adam Female, we see this in Genesis 5:2, “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”)
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Adam male and Adam female were created equal, made in the Image of God in His Likeness.
Jesus is the Head of the Church:
Ephesians 4:7 reads, ”
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captive a host of captives,
And He gave gifts to men.”
Now the Greek word for “men” in this passage is the word: Anthropos: a Human Being, Male OR Female. Therefore the Proper translation should read: “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to Human beings, both Male and Female.”
When we study the Word of God we Will find Truth, as Jesus says in John 17:16,17, “Sanctify them through thy Truth, thy Word is Truth.” God’s Word is Truth,
Paul Commends Women Ministers:
ROMANS 16:1-5,
I Commend to you our Sister Phoebe, who is a Deacon, who is a Deacon (GREEK word for Deacon: Diakonos: meaning Minister) in the CHURCH in Cenchrea.
2–WELCOME HER IN THE LORD as one who is WORTHY OF HONOR among GOD’S PEOPLE. HELP HER IN WHATEVER SHE NEEDS, for She has been HELPFUL to Many, and ESPECIALLY TO ME.
3–Give my greetings to PRISCILLA and Aquila, my co-workers in the Ministry of Christ Jesus.
4–In fact, they once Risked their lives for me. I am Thankful to them, and so are ALL the Gentile CHURCHES
5–Also give my greetings to the CHURCH that MEETS IN THEIR HOME.
—Romans 16:12, “Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, THOSE WOMEN WHO WORK HARD IN THE LORD.
Greet my dear friend Persis, ANOTHER WOMAN WHO HAS WORKED HARD IN THE LORD.”
What is a Myth?
A Myth is a WIDELY held FALSE BELIEF, and there are Many Myths (Traditions) that people believe are true and are NOT, such as only males can be Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, this belief is completely unscriptural, is NOT Truth and is a Lie. The Word of God also says, “Let God be True and Every “man” (Greek: Anthropos-Human Being, Male or Female) a liar.” Romans 3:4.
Where do lies come from? Jesus gives us the answer in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of b]”>[lies.”
As a Pastor for over 21 years, teaching the Word of God, I have found that there are MANY myths, misconceptions, false beliefs, that are flat out “lies” from the devil being spoken in pulpits and social media platforms all over the world! Why is that? I like what a very well known Pastor and Author recently said, when he publicly apologized to the women in his life, and to All Christian women, saying He was ashamed for not conducting his “own” personal exegesis on the subject of Women and their right to fulfill their calling from the Holy Spirit to be Pastors, Ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he also said, that one cannot take a verse from the Bible and make a Doctrine out of it, which is what MANY denominations and traditions have done.
Let’s continue with the rest of Ephesians chapter 4 beginning with verse 11: 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” This is why it is imperative that both men and women, sons and daughters, work together, each one using the Gifts that Jesus Christ gave them, verse 16, “being fitted TOGETHER by what EVERY joint supplies.”
Look closely at verse 15, the Lord is very clear in showing us that the word Head, in the Greek is Kephale, and in this context, we are shown that Jesus Christ is the HEAD of His Church, the Body of Christ, therefore He is the Head of each local church body: Allow me to repeat myself: JESUS is the the HEAD of His Church; the Body of Christ, Males are Not the heads, nor are Females the heads; only Jesus Christ holds that position. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there Male and Female, for you are all One in Christ Jesus.”
Are we as males and females, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, who are called by Jesus Christ to work together as the Overseers of His Church (the local body?) Yes! Are we the “Head” or “Heads” of His Church? No!
Now that we Know the proper word for “man” means, human beings, male and female, and the “Head” of the Church; All churches is Jesus Christ, we clearly see that BOTH males and females; the body of Christ have been given Gifts by Jesus Himself, to be Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.
What Does it Mean that a Man is the Head of His Wife?
Since we have established that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, we’re going to look at this again in Ephesians 5, where Paul speaking by the Holy Spirit shows us the connection to a husbands relationship with his wife: Ephesians 5:23, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
I must admit, I was extremely happy to find during my research other sources that support what I believe the Lord has revealed to me in my Heart (spirit), as it is Not a theory, nor is it an opinion, it is clear in the Word of God what head of Wife, and head of the Church means and how they are connected.
The following study is by Solomon O. Ademiluka, Department of Biblical Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa:
“From the exegesis of the text, the headship of the husband over his wife, **alluded to in verse 23, is explained in verses 25-33,
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
The husband’s headship is likened to the unique character of Christ’s headship over the church. As the leader of the church, Christ gave himself up for her. In the same way, Christian men should place a greater value on his wife’s life and well-being than over even his own life. The emphasis therefore is on love, not on authority. The Christian husband’s love for his wife is not to be self-serving or for self-gratification. Husband and wife are one flesh and therefore the husband’s love for his wife should translate to nourishing and cherishing her like his OWN body – Just as Christ does with the church. Many Christian husbands’ relationships with their spouses fall short of the expectation in Ephesians 5. In the first place, Contrary to the intent of Paul as seen in the exegesis, the general assumption is ‘that submission in marriage implies suppression or inferiority’ (Aiyegbusi 2019).
As seen earlier on, in the perception of many Nigerian men, a woman has to be a puppet to be seen as a submissive wife: she does not have a voice in any matter, neither does she have any rights; she is to be seen, not heard, and must always do the husband’s bidding. No doubt, men who have this idea of submission will most certainly wield authoritarian headship over their wives, which does not conform to the Christ-like form of headship portrayed in Ephesians 5. Also contradictory to the concept of sacrificial love and cherishing, as taught in the passage, are practices that get the wife overlabored in serving her husband and the family, and thereby reducing her status to that of a house maid…” Solomon goes on to say, “Contrary to all these, the head of the wife, portrayed by Paul in Ephesians 5, is one that would seek the pleasure and comfort of his wife over his own. He is the type that would recognize when his wife needs help, and readily give a helping hand; the type that nourishes and cherishes his wife, who would find it impossible to raise his hand against his wife for any reason. In other words, if the text is properly understood and applied, submission should not turn a wife into a house maid or an abused person. Rather the husband, in his headship role, adores her, putting on the character of Christ, ‘who, though he was in the form of God … emptied himself, taking the form of a servant’ (Philippians 2:6-7 – RSV).
As you can see how extremely important it is to be led by the Holy Spirit, study the scriptures and be very careful to not take a verse out of context and make a doctrine out of it, which is what many do, and have done, it is also imperative to conduct a Word Study by looking up their proper meanings in the Greek and Hebrew, this effort eliminates error, and exposes the Myths that have been heard and received as truth, when they are in fact lies from the devil himself.
I believe that one of the main reasons the devil has influenced many members of the church regarding the male/female issue, is because he knows that when the body of Christ works Together as God originally planned, (see 1 Corinthians 12, Spiritual Gifts) that it will be a blow to the Kingdom of Darkness! That means there will be MORE Ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ exercising their Gifts (Ephesians 4) which will result in a Supernatural mass explosion of church Growth, and we will See the Signs, Wonders and Miracles of God at Work within the church, which will Glorify God and cause Many to become followers of Jesus Christ as we see in the book of Acts by adding to the church thousands, along with signs and wonders in manifestation (Acts 2:42-47.) This means the church as a whole MUST allow ALL the Gifts in operation. The Body of Christ working Together in Faith and Love, will bring the Kingdom of God in the earth. Amen and Amen.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to Myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3,4.
